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 Gov. Jay Inslee smiles Thursday while signing five bills protecting women?s right of choice and patients? right to privacy in Washington state.
?We are here to proclaim that we will not allow any state, or any Trump-appointed judge, to jeopardize a woman?s right of choice in the state of Washington,? said Gov. Jay Inslee.
Inslee and lawmakers gathered on the rooftop of the?Hans Rosling Center for Population Health at the University of Washington Thursday for the governor to sign a slate of five bills protecting women?s rights of choice and privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court?s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization precipitated a torrent of anti-choice legislation nationwide, but state lawmakers led a staunch defense this session for Washington women and out-of-state patients considering care from in-state providers.
A federal judge in Texas recently tried to invalidate the Food and Drug Administration?s approval of the abortion medication mifepristone. Even before the judge?s decision was issued, the State of Washington proactively purchased a multi-year supply of the drug. Among the bills signed Thursday was SB 5768, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser, authorizing the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to distribute the supply. DOC holds a pharmaceutical license and the infrastructure to store and distribute the medication.
Conservative legislatures in several states have recently passed extreme anti-choice legislation going so far as to inhibit the right of patients to consult a physician about abortion or gender-affirming care. States have even passed laws and threatened subpoenas for those who might consider traveling to another state for care. Inslee signed Rep. Drew Hansen?s Shield Law to disallow compliance with out-of-state subpoenas related to abortion or gender-affirming care.
?As soon as the draft Dobbs decision leaked, we know other states would be creative and aggressive in restricting access to abortion. We also knew that we would need to be creative and aggressive in fighting back,? said Hansen.
The governor also signed bills protecting providers who offer reproductive health services, preventing the sale of consumer health data, and reducing unexpected expenses for abortion patients. Additionally, the 2023-25 state budget is expected to allocate more than $15 million to support reproductive freedom.
?The Evergreen State is ever-vigilant in protecting this right,? said Inslee. ?We know, unfortunately, there are states across the country that are attempting to put their tentacles into the state of Washington? We will not allow that.?
 Rep. Vandana Slatter, Sen. Karen Keiser, and Sen. Manka Dhingra each spoke Thursday in support of choice legislation. Slatter, Keiser, Dhingra, and Rep. Drew Hansen, Sen. Karen Cleveland, AG Bob Ferguson, and other lawmakers all contributed to recent pro-choice bills and budgetary commitments.
 Surrounded by survivors, victims' family members, and lawmakers, Gov. Jay Inslee signed three gun violence prevention bills on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children. Handgun owners are as much as eight times more likely to die by suicide than non-owners. Weekly mass shootings nationwide in 2023 have claimed 88 lives to date. Nightly news plays a drumbeat of gruesome headlines, one that Washington state lawmakers are determined to disrupt.
Gun violence survivors, victims? family members, advocates, and lawmakers joined Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday to sign three lifesaving gun violence prevention bills into law. Assault weapons are no longer sold in Washington state. Gun manufacturers and distributors are now accountable for reckless practices. And gun buyers must pass a basic safety course and wait 10 days before collecting a lethal weapon.
?This is a victory over weapons of war,? said Gov. Jay Inslee. ?It is a victory over impetuous gun violence, over people who could buy a gun and commit violence without a second thought. This is a victory over irresponsible manufacturers responsible for gun violence.?
While a member of Congress, Inslee voted for a federal assault weapons ban in 1994. The law?s expiration a decade later preceded a 20-year spree of mass shootings, including more than 80 incidents of heavily-armed active shooters massacring children inside schools. In 2016, a 19-year-old charged into a house party in Mukilteo with an AR-15 and extinguished three young lives. Rep. Strom Peterson represents Mukilteo, and each year local students press him on what he?s doing to reduce gun violence.
?So many years I didn?t have an answer,? said Peterson. ?But this year? This year, I get to go to that class, stand up, and say, ?Because of you asking me that question, because of you marching in the streets, because of you refusing to go to class because your friends are dying across the country, Washington state is leading the way.??
 A firefighter tolls a bell for each name read from a roster of workers killed on the job at the annual Department of Labor & Industries Worker Memorial.
The state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) honored 129 workers who died on the job during its annual Worker Memorial on Thursday. A bell was tolled for each name read from the roster of the deceased.
The bell tolled for police officers and sheriffs? deputies. It tolled for truck drivers, airplane maintenance techs, and farmworkers. It tolled 34 times for construction workers.
?No construction worker should die in a trench. It?s not expensive or difficult to prevent. But it still happens,? said L&I public affairs manager Matt Ross.
L&I hosts the event each year to honor the deceased, caution employers of the danger of complacency, and encourage workers to embrace safety regulations and insist on safe working conditions.
?I know that when L&I shows up to a job, neither business nor labor gets very excited,? said Bob Battle from the Association of Washington Business. ?But L&I?s work is so important. Today?s a special reminder of that.?
In recent years, the Legislature has adopted rules to protect outdoor workers from COVID-19 exposure, extreme heat, and other hazards. L&I has also repeatedly cited irresponsible employers for workplace safety violations and other abuses.
?How about if we commit ourselves to go one week without a single workplace fatality?? asked L&I director Joel Sacks. ?If we go one week, we can go two weeks, or a month and so on until we can come together on Worker Memorial Day and not hear that bell.?
Legislators adjourned sine die Sunday night, finishing a session that resulted in historic new investments for housing and K-12 education, passage of significant legislation to reduce gun violence and protect reproductive freedom, and crucial reforms for parts of the state?s behavioral health system.
There was one must-do item that legislators missed, however. A proposed compromise for a new state policy regarding drug possession fell short in the House late Sunday. The Legislature has until July 1 to pass a ?Blake fix? that would replace the state?s temporary misdemeanor law. Legislators adopted the temporary law after the state Supreme Court overturned the state?s prior felony drug possession law, giving themselves two years to figure out a permanent policy.
Gov. Jay Inslee has indicated he expects legislators to continue working on a compromise that can be voted on in a special session. The governor has met with Democratic and Republican leaders and expressed he?s encouraged about the prospects of a solution that could be brought forward in May.
Commerce commits $83.5 million to address homelessness and housing affordability
The state Department of Commerce?announced Thursday that it had awarded $83.5 million to a number of projects that will create 484 housing units statewide. At least 113 of those units will be reserved as supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. Additional grants of $39.8 million from the Housing Trust Fund will construct 291 new affordable housing units statewide.
?We distributed funding to ensure that every region?receives needed resources to tackle our state?s affordable housing crisis," said?Corina Grigoras, assistant director for Commerce?s Housing Division.
COVID-19 exposure notification app WA Notify to end May 11
WA Notify - the state?s COVID-19 exposure notification app - will sunset May 11. The app used privacy-preserving technology to anonymously alert users of potential exposures. Since launching in Nov. 2020,?approximately 235,000 participants confirmed a positive test result in WA Notify, generating more than 2.5 million anonymous exposure notifications, preventing tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases, and saving lives.
?We?re tremendously proud of what WA Notify was able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time,? said Dr. Bryant Thomas Karras, chief medical informatics officer at the state Department of Health.
Two Washington schools honored as National Green Ribbon Schools
The U.S. Department of Education annually recognizes schools for reducing environmental impacts. This year, Chief Leschi Schools in Puyallup and Pioneer Elementary School in the Peninsula School District earned this national honor.
?Washington state continues to make environmental and sustainability education a priority, and it?s an incredible honor for two of our public schools to be nationally recognized as leaders in this work,? said State Superintendent Chris Reykdal.
New forensic hospital will run on geothermal energy
The state Department of Social and Health Services' master plan for its planned forensic hospital in Lakewood calls for net-zero energy use, and the department is beginning to build the capacity to achieve that ambitious goal.?A pair of 8-inch-wide, 250-feet-deep exploratory geothermal test wells were drilled last month, a first step in a long process to drill?300 geothermal wells by 2029 that will provide clean energy for the new hospital.
Inslee appoints Grace Yoo director of the Washington State Women's Commission
Gov. Jay Inslee this week named Grace Yoo director of the Washington State Women's Commission, effective May 22. Yoo currently works for Starbucks as the Greener Stores global program manager, where she leads the company's efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its retail stores. Her team was recognized by President Biden's administration as part of the Federal Buy Clean initiative.
?Grace is a dynamic leader with experience building coalitions to take on tough challenges in both the public and private sectors. I am confident she will drive innovation and implement policy priorities at the Women's Commission," Inslee said.
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